Art.Nr. 23908"
I don't need to say much about the new LOLA T70 as a track car; it's been on the market since last year. For fans of large-scale models, this has made a long-cherished dream come true.
The club report on this car is a bit longer than usual this time. I’ve been gathering material for the report for quite some time. I ended up with quite a bit this time. And since everything was actually quite interesting, it would be a shame to use only part of it.
So this will be a report on both the green car and the race car driver. Let’s get started:
Here is David Piper’s green LOLA, number 58, as Mr. Piper raced it in 1969. The car has the chassis number SL76/150, and I’ll stick with that designation for the rest of the report.
SL76/150 was one of 16 Lola T70 GTs built to Mk3B specifications. Its first owner was David Piper, one of the best-known privateer sports car drivers of the 1960s and early 1970s. His career began in 1954, when he primarily competed in hill climbs in Lotus monopostos; he then switched (with moderate success) to Formula 2, and in 1959 and 1960 he competed in two Formula 1 races at Silverstone.
Starting in 1962, David Piper focused exclusively on sports car racing.
In the middle of the 1962 season, Piper purchased a Ferrari 250 GTO. The GTO was followed by a 250 LM and a 365 P2 (which we know as the CARRERA model in 132, item no. 30775). The 365 P2 was the customer version of the 330 P2. Ferrari model designations can sometimes be confusing. The P2 was later converted to P2/3 specs (at the workshop of Piero Drogo, the builder of the Breadvan, owner and founder of the body shop Carrozzeria Sports Cars), and later, the P2/3 was effectively converted into a 412 P. Incidentally, the 412 P was the customer version of the Ferrari 330 P4 (albeit with 40 PS less and the old, unreliable 4-speed ZF transmission). Is everyone still with me? Good! Let’s continue!
Piper’s green 412 P/330 P4 was also available from CARRERA (in 1/124 scale, Item No. 20208)
The light green Lola was purchased as Piper’s primary race car for the 1969 season. It was light green because that was David Piper’s favorite color. The BP sponsorship didn’t come until later. In 1969, he also competed in several events for the Ferrari and Porsche factory teams, driving his 412 P and a Porsche 908/02 at times.
The SL76/150 replaced the Ferrari 250 LM, which Piper had driven for much of 1968. At non-FIA events this season, Piper often drove his 412 P. The 412 P was no longer allowed to compete in FIA races because the FIA, with its new three-liter engine limit for Group 6 prototypes, had banned the Ferrari—with its 4-liter V12—from the World Sportscar Championship.
The Lola had no such problems: When the rules limited the displacement of prototypes to three liters in 1968, sports cars built in a series of at least 50 were granted a 5-liter displacement; and starting in 1969, a minimum of 25 built vehicles was sufficient to meet homologation requirements. The Lola thus qualified for Class 4 Sport, as more than 50 T70s had been built since production began. A total of 88 Lola T70s were produced across all versions, from Mk1 to 3b.
Piper frequently raced the Lola in 1969, securing several victories (u.a . at the Montlhery Coupes de Vitesse) and half a dozen podium finishes.
In May 1969, he had the opportunity to compete as a factory driver in a Porsche 917 at the 1,000-km race at the Nürburgring. Together with his co-driver, Frank Gardner, he finished 8th. Toward the end of the year, he bought his own Porsche 917 (chassis 010). This 917 was intended to replace the Lola starting in 1970, so Piper frequently fielded other drivers for his racing team that year:
Chris Craft, Richard Attwood, and Jean-Pierre Beltoise drove the SL76/150 in 1970. Attwood scored several victories in France (at Montlhery and Dijon), and Beltoise won the final race as a driver for David Piper Racing at Magny-Cours.
In the second half of 1970, Piper was recruited by Solar Productions to purchase cars for the upcoming Steve McQueen film *Le Mans*. Some filming took place during the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans. In November, the crew returned to Le Mans for more action shots. The SL76/150 was one of many cars that appeared in the legendary production.
In addition to sourcing cars for Solar Productions, Piper was one of several top drivers brought on board for the driving scenes. Unfortunately, he was involved in a serious accident during filming:
While driving a Porsche 917 at high speed, Piper lost control of his car in the fast Maison Blanche section of the racetrack, near the spot where John Woolfe had lost his life the previous year. The 917 was completely destroyed. To make matters worse, an infection set in after he broke his leg, and David Piper had to have half of his right leg amputated. Although he continued to race, his career at the top was over.
After filming wrapped, Solar Productions sold the SL76/150 to Parisian privateer Pierre-Henri Archambeaud. In 1971 and 1972, Archambeaud raced the T70 alongside his Porsche 911 S. He secured countless top-three finishes in French championships, including several victories at his home track in Montlhery.
The Lola, now painted with green, orange, and white stripes, was retired at the end of the 1972 season.
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The car then passed into the hands of Franco Sbarro (the famous Italian car designer). As early as 1970, Sbarro had been producing road-legal T70 clones using existing and purchased components, featuring leather interiors and other refinements; reports indicate there were 11 such vehicles.
Sbarro eventually sold the SL76/150 back to David Piper. Piper, in turn, passed the car on to Brian Redman (a British race car driver who, with 54 overall victories in national and international races, was one of the most successful sports car drivers in motorsport history).
The SL76/150 later spent some time in a Swedish collection before returning to the United Kingdom.
The SL76/150 has been competing in historic racing since the 1980s. Today, the car is owned by Briton Shaun Lynn, who also races it in historic motorsports.
And to wrap things up, here’s a nice little detail about the green Lola:
On July 13, 1969, Hans Herrmann drove the green Lola to victory at the Solitude Race in Hockenheim during a guest appearance with the PIPER team (the car bore start number 20 in that race). Link to racingsportscars
CoMod Lotus
